Saving Ginevra Weasley
by Azrulai
Summary: It's wartime, and somehow Draco Malfoy is protecting Ginevra Weasley instead of being a good little Deatheater. But she doesn't know that... yet. And does she need him? LINK TO FRENCH TRANSLATION INSIDE. COMPLETE.
1. How it Came to be this Way

**_Very special thanks to Ellie (_Caliadne_) for translating this fic into FRENCH!! The URL is http:// www .hpfanfiction. org/ fr/ viewstory. php? sid= 11532 without the spaces._**

**A/N: So, this is a lovely idea that popped into my head while I was watching "Saving Private Ryan" a couple months ago. It's (very loosely) based off the concept of that movie. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling, and maybe an itty bitty pinch belongs to me. **

**Draco is somewhat OOC, but it can't be helped. Lucius is **_**very**_** OOC (you'll understand in a minute), but he's not really important to the story in the long run, so whatever. **

**Now, I'm not sure how this is going to turn out because I think it's going to have a bit more action in it than my fics usually do. But hey, it's worth a try. **

**Anyway- without further filler, here we go:**

Saving Ginevra Weasley, Chapter One:

How it Came to be this Way

The Dark Lord's schedule has been very much based off of Harry Potter's, and he was conveniently in my year at Hogwarts. Instead of getting a Ministry job or going for a year abroad like a normal eighteen-year-old wizard, my graduation night was marked by a skull and serpent being branded into my arm. Then I trained, and then I went to battle.

I should start my story when the last Weasley boy died. That's what got me into this mess anyway. Not the being a Deatheater mess, that was my father. I mean the Saving Ginevra Weasley mess.

We were well into the war, and everyone of age was on the front lines. There was no more school, no more Ministry of Magic- just war. Everyone's life was war, regardless of the side they were on. We lived in warded camps, home being too dangerous even for the children and women who didn't fight. We spent long days waiting for the signal to do something, _anything_, while the higher-ups strategized- and then we attempted things that invariably caused more death but no progress. Both sides had suffered many casualties, but it wasn't a coincidence that only two Weasley children were still alive. No, our side had attacked that family with particular malice. No other family had ever been so traitorous to their pure blood, and they were resented for it. Besides, you could spot them a mile off with that damned hair. They attracted Deatheaters like nifflers to galleons.

So at that point only Ginevra, gender accident of the family, and Potter's daft sidekick were left. I can't say I wasn't a bit impressed how they put their whole heart into the fighting after losing five brothers. Their father was gone too- one of the early casualties, in fact.

I was there when the weasel died. No, I didn't kill him for God's sake. It was Nott who did it, I think. The funny thing is, he wasn't even aiming for the Weasley that time. I saw the jet of magic come from somewhere, and it was going right for Granger. Of course, King Weasel just had to jump in front of it, Gryffindor that he is. Honestly, who'd love Granger _that_ much? I have to hand it to him, I don't think I'd take an Avada for my own mother.

Point is, I was there, and so was the Weaslette. They were always fighting in a group, those three. The Boy-Who-Won't-Kick-the-Bucket was usually off somewhere else, doing his hero thing I presume (he must've been pretty bored, seeing as the Dark Lord was nowhere to be found through most of this).

I saw the curse fly at Granger, saw Weasley jump in front of it like an idiot, saw Weaslette reach toward him as his eyes went blank and he dropped to the ground, and heard her scream. I have _never_ heard such a heart-wrenching, blood-curdling scream…

I was impressed by what she did next. Instead of dropping to the ground, sobbing over the lifeless body of her last brother like I had watched so many others do, she spun around and pointed her wand at the masked Deatheater who had thrown the curse, glaring daggers at him while she whispered "Crucio". To my knowledge, that was the first Unforgivable Curse she had ever uttered (not that it was unforgivable anymore, as the Ministry no longer existed to enforce it). It wasn't the last, though. She killed him a few minutes later, when it became clear that she wouldn't be able to stand in the middle of a battle and torture him without repercussions any longer. I saw the light of anger go out of her eyes as she turned back to her brother's body, leaving them cold and empty but still dry of tears. She jerked away from Granger's outstretched hand (Granger, of course, was crying rivers) and waved her wand over the body, presumably vanishing it to the field where the Light's dead were laid out. Then she touched the emergency portkey at her neck, whispered the triggering words, and disappeared.

I went to my father later, at the makeshift hospital away from the battlefield where he was dying from an incurable slow-killing curse. I wasn't too upset about that, really. He had never been much of a father to me. A beating now and then behind closed doors, a hand on my shoulder, maybe, if we were out in public together- that was the extent to which Lucius's "parenting" went. But he wanted me to bring him news from the battlegrounds, and I had been brought up to listen to his orders.

So I sat in a chair by his bed and told him that the last Weasley son was gone. That's when he told me his bit of news.

Can you even _imagine_ my reaction when my father, _Lucius Malfoy_, told me he had been in love with a Weasley? Well, she was really a Prewett, but still.

I've seen pictures of Molly as a girl. She was always somewhat chubby, but she did have the kind of good looks that I think God tends to give fat people to compensate for their weight. She had big eyes and red lips, and flawless pale skin even as a teenager. But honestly, I don't know what Lucius saw in her. She's Molly Weasley! The woman who went on to spawn practically a dozen little ginger-haired idiots! He couldn't have fallen in love with her _personality_, right? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a heart…

Anyway, after his lovely little story, he charmed me so I couldn't tell anyone. Don't know who he thought I'd tell- I certainly didn't want to disgrace our family name.

My shock at this news was nothing, however, compared to what he said next. He told me to protect Ginevra Weasley. That's right, protect her. Why? He said he wanted her to have one child left. He couldn't imagine the pain of losing six sons, let alone all seven children. So he does have a heart. He feels empathy. Wow. Perhaps that curse is muddling his brain.

He died the next day. My mum was there, but his last words to me were "remember, Draco, what I said yesterday…" His fucking dying wish. Well, I was a Malfoy. I couldn't disobey my father's dying wish. So I began to protect little Weaslette.

**A/N: Alright guys, what's the verdict? I know, short chapter, but as my previous readers know I find that shorter chapters suit my style of writing better. Please review!**


	2. Invisible Guardian

**A/N: As is my tradition, I'm sending a special thank you to purplepanties for being my first reviewer for this fic. I'm going to try to update this at least once every weekend, but I have final papers and stuff to work on now so it's kind of crazy. This one came early because I've had bits of it written for a while, just not typed. Besides, you guys need something more to get you really into it.**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Two

Invisible Guardian

_I began to protect little Weaslette._

I hung over her in battle, out of sight or under disillusionment charm. I deflected curses aimed at her and temporarily incapacitated Deatheaters around her. I watched her fighting style. She was good, there was no doubt about it. She didn't need my surreptitious help most of the time. She was so fiery and passionate- passion that I could never muster up for the halfblooded pureblood supremacist. According to his own beliefs, he was inferior to me. Why should I have to follow him? Weasley, of course, believed wholeheartedly in her cause. You could tell.

I had half expected her to stop fighting. I expected that Molly wouldn't let her. Now that I've seen her fight, I realize that she would never stand for that. She _needs_ to fight.

I decided to quit. To stop fighting for the Dark Lord and make lurking by Weasley and protecting her my full-time job. I didn't honestly care much about who won. I had a feeling Potter would do it in the end, when Voldy finally showed his ugly… can you even call it a face?

So I disappeared. I took up residence in the forest near the Light's camp so that I would have easier access to the girl. As far as anyone knew, I was dead. My body just hadn't been found yet. Many people's never were. I felt slightly bad about doing that to my mother, but I had never had the best relationship with her either. It didn't make me feel guilty enough to not do it.

I was comfortable- more so than I had been at the Deatheater camp, in fact. I was able to drop by Malfoy Manor, collect everything I needed without being spotted (if anyone knows their way around the security wards, it's me), and settle down in the tent we used for the Quidditch World Cup. It was quite comfortable and designed for three people, so I had plenty of space. A few (dozen) wand waves later and it was warded and invisible. I had always been good at transfiguration, so with a little work I could turn the berries and mushrooms I collected into rather appetizing meals.

Why, you might ask, would a _Malfoy_ ever want to spend his time protecting a Weasley? Yes, it had been my semi-insane father's last wish, but it wasn't like I was under unbreakable vow or anything. Well, to be honest, something about her intrigued me. I had never paid much attention to her at school, but the way she fought, the way she avenged her dimwit of a brother, her unbeatable bat-bogey hex… I wanted to find out more about her. It was an instinct. I know, totally out of character for me.

One night I woke up with a weird feeling that something was out of place. Moving silently to the edge of the forest, I peered out of the last layer of trees into the Light's graveyard, which was laid out between their camp and the tall oaks I had taken up residence within.

At first I thought it was just another mourner coming to say hello to a loved one. Well it was a mourner, but it wasn't just any mourner. You guessed it- it was Weasley. She knelt in front of her family's seven graves, stony and silent. Her back did not shake with sobs and she didn't move her hands up to her eyes. She just sat there.

Just when I was going to walk back into the forest and leave her alone, when I had convinced myself that the bad feeling I had was just because of hearing her footsteps on the dry leaves in my sleep, she finally moved. She reached into her robes and withdrew something that glinted in the dim moonlight. For a moment I just stood there, transfixed, somehow not fully absorbing what was going on. When the knife was pointed squarely towards her chest, something clicked.

Before I had really thought about what I was doing, my wand was out and I whispered "_Wingardium Leviosa._" The dagger flew out of her hand and into the air. It sped towards me and I grabbed it neatly by the hilt. She turned in my direction, wide-eyed.

I had banked on her fear of the unknown (or her fear of the possibility of my being a Deatheater, which I sort of was) being enough to counter her curiosity, but I was apparently wrong. She drew her wand and was running across the deserted cemetery in the blink of an eye. I couldn't apparate closer to my clearing- there were likely to be detection spells for that, as well as for unforgivable curses (the reason, I assumed, that she hadn't attempted to kill herself with a wand, which would be far les painful. Although perhaps she wanted the pain). I cast another disillusionment charm (I've been spending more time disillusioned than visible lately, haven't I?) and pressed my back to the wide trunk of an oak as she broke through the tree line remarkably close to where I was.

Naturally, a crisp twig snapped beneath my foot at that moment. Her head whipped towards me, her wand following immediately. I held my breath as the lighted tip moved closer and closer to my chest. Her freckled face was illuminated in the wandlight, and her big brown eyes seemed darker than I had seen them before. I hadn't taken a good look at her since… well, ever, really, but at least not since Hogwarts.

Her distinctive Weasley hair was cut off very short, just above her chin, and fell into her eyes in straight, choppy pieces. I was startled by how much of a visible toll the war had taken on her. There were dark circles under those dark eyes- I could tell she hadn't slept well in a long while. She was thinner than she had ever been at Hogwarts; I noticed this even from my vague recollection of her appearance there. She had always had a slim, athletic figure, on the tall side for a girl, but now she just looked unhealthy. Her cheeks were hollowed, her wrist on her wand hand so thin it seemed that I could break it easily with my bare hands.

I made these observations in a few short seconds, but it seemed like minutes had gone by. I was still holding my breath, and my wand was out and ready to shield if she thought to whisper "_finite incantatum._" She didn't. She backed away, wand still pointed in my vague direction, and then she ran back to the camp. I watched her retreat and then looked at her dagger in the moonlight. The blade was sharp and bore the Prewett crest. From her mother's family, then. The gold plated hilt wasn't set with gemstones like my own, but it was solid workmanship. She would be upset if she lost it. I slipped it into the inside pocket of my black cloak and made my way back to my own little camp.

The next morning I watched her tent entrance until I saw her mother exit, leaving her inside. I carefully slit an opening right above her bed and left the dagger on her pillow with a note, sealing it after. Somewhere along the way Weaslette had become Ginevra, although I wasn't sure how.

_Ginevra,_

_Think how very selfish that would be. I'll be keeping an eye on you, just in case._

_You can call me Silver._

I was tempted to call myself dragon (I had always rather liked my name- one nice thing Lucius did for me, I suppose), but that was too obvious. She'd figure it out.

Having done this, I made a quick trip to Snape's tent in the Dark's campgrounds. I knew he would have some Dreamless Sleep potion, and I wasn't disappointed. I stuffed his whole stash into my robes and was out in a flash. These also went into Ginevra's tent, with a new note.

_For Merlin's sake, get some sleep. I know you have no reason to trust me, but you're a smart girl- I'm sure you know the incantations to test for poison. If all else fails, you can always test it on a house elf._

_Silver _

I watched her later. She drank it without a single test. I should have known- she has a death wish anyway.

**I've decided to start answering my reviews here, unless they need a more extensive reply:**

**Purplepanties- **_**I know, it is sad isn't it? It's unfortunately necessary to set up the story, though (-: **_

**Lemonizer- **_**Thanks for the great review! Did this one live up to your expectations? **_

**Farie Insignias- **_**Thank you! Writing Draco is really fun. I adore his sort of bitingly sarcastic voice. Reminds me of myself, I suppose.**_

**Pretty please with a pepper imp on top, review and tell me what you think!**


	3. Notes and Scandal

**A/N: I say that I'm going to actually do my schoolwork and not write this stuff 24/7, but I just get addicted. So here you have it, another chapter. That said, chapter four will probably be up by Sunday night.**

**By the way, Snape is thoroughly evil in this story. That means no spying and helping out the Light side. I know, I didn't want to do it, but it had to be done. You'll see. Oh, and Sirus is alive, just because I like him. (For proof of just how much I like him, see my Ginny/Sirius story: ****Try to Love Again****. Yes, that was shameless self-promotion right there.)**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Three

Notes and Scandal

It was awfully clever of them, really. Usually they're more arrogant in their attacks.

The Deatheaters were very stealthy about getting through the wards and making their way around the Light camp. Nobody really knew what had happened until it was far too late. They simply captured all the best fighters and aurors and left. Among those captured were Remus and Nymphadora Lupin, Sirius Black, Alastor Moody, and a horde of other people. The price for their lives was surrender, and even then the Light knew very well that that didn't mean a safe return.

During the attack, Ginevra's mother had gone to the medics' tents to do what she could for the people who had had the bad luck of being in tents with the targets. Nobody but me knew that Ginevra was under Dreamless Sleep potion and wouldn't wake for the next five hours unless someone said the counterspell. I wrote another note.

_Ginevra, it's a Deatheater attack. No fighting. Just find a place where you can protect yourself._

_Silver_

I left the note next to her sleeping form and then muttered the spell to wake her up through my customary slit in the tent fabric. When I was sure she was awake, I disappeared to hide myself. Wouldn't do for somewhat who thought I was dead to see me walking about the Light's camp, would it?

--

Although I spent a limited amount of time around the camp and didn't talk to anyone, even I could feel the difference in atmosphere the next day. You could cut the tension with a knife. The Light's best fighters and strategists were being held hostage, the Deatheaters had somehow broken through the wards- from the conversations I overheard (alright, eavesdropped on), people were losing hope.

Potter had been placed in charge, as the "savior of the wizarding world." Stupid idea if you ask me- he may be the Boy Who Lived, but he's not especially good at helping other people stay alive from what I can tell. He was busy working on a plan with Granger. At least she has a bit of sense, and she _is _a walking library after all.

In the late afternoon, Ginevra left her tent, glancing furtively to either side to make sure that no one was watching. Well, no one but me, that is, as I found out later. At the time I was just thinking that it was stupid of her to venture out alone before the safety wards had been properly updated, and that I better follow.

She made her way to the edge of the cemetery, closest to the forest. I trailed her closely, invisible again. She took a scrap of parchment out of her pocket and set it under a rock at the roots of one of the trees, then walked over to her family's graves again. I glanced over to make sure she was safe and looking away, then made my way to the parchment she had left. It shouldn't have surprised me that it had "_Silver_" scrawled across it in a spidery script.

_I made the assumption that you would follow me since you always seem to be there, behind the scenes. If you're reading this, I was right.  
__Who are you? Why me? Am I ever going to meet you? Do I know you already? How old are you? Were you at Hogwarts when I was? You know where to find me.  
__Ginevra_

I decided I might as well answer the questions that wouldn't give me away. I wrote my response and folded it into a crane, charming it to fly toward her (A/N: Thanks to Alfonso Cuarón or whoever thought that up for the 3rd movie).

_You were right. I can't tell you who I am, but I'll let you know a few things. I'm around your age. You've met me, but you don't know me. I carry the dark mark, but I am not a Deatheater. Perhaps, someday, we'll meet again.  
__Silver_

She caught the note in midair and unfolded it. She glanced over in my general direction before reading it. When she was finished, she shook her head and walked back to the camp. As she reached the cluster of tents, Granger suddenly appeared and grabbed her by the arm, saying something I couldn't hear. I could tell it was Granger only from her unmistakable mass of hair. Moving quickly so as not to lose sight of them, I followed the girls to a tent and listened closely to the dialogue that went on inside.

"Ginny, we've been looking for you," I recognized Potter's voice. "You shouldn't go out on your own."

"Yes, yes, Hermione already lectured me. What do you want?" I was taken aback by the enmity in her voice. Presumably her relationship with Potter and Granger had suffered severe deterioration since her brother's death.

"Well, to put it bluntly, we need your help freeing the captives."

"Why me? What can I do?"

"You're a good fighter, and you're… thin. We found a break in the Deatheater's wards, but it's only big enough for someone your size or smaller to fit. Otherwise you need a dark mark to pass, and we don't have any marked fighters on our side anymore." He took a deep breath. "Trust me, Ginny, I don't want to send you in there, but you're our only chance. You're the only one who's small enough to get through and also smart enough to do what needs to be done once you're in."

"So you're sending me on a life-threatening mission because I'm _thin_." she said bitterly.

"I can't make you do it. It's your choice," Potter responded.

"Oh no, I'm going, don't get me wrong. I just needed to stop to point out the irony of it all." She stated acidly. Potter couldn't hold back his sigh of relief. "What do I have to do?"

**Review Replies:**

**Purplegabby123- **_**Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it.**_

**Lemonizer- **_**So, what did you think of Ginny's note? (-:**_

**I'm simply not the type who abandons fics so I'm not going to make empty threats, but it would be really nice if you guys could review even if it's to tell me what you **_**don't **_**like that I can change.**

**Of course, if you have reviewed one or both of the first two chapters then I'm not talking to you. Thank you to those select few people.**

**So REVIEW, people! Pretty please with levitating sherbet balls on top?**


	4. Operation Weasel

**A/N: I just get busier as time goes on. Although that may have something to do with the fact that all my final projects and papers are right now. But yeah, I'll try to keep up the quick updates I'm known for (-:**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Four

Operation Weasel

By the time Ginevra got back to her tent, there was another note beneath the blankets on her bed.

_I'll be there, whether you can see me or not._

_Silver_

I had the vague idea that I might reveal myself to her before Operation Weasel, as I had begun to call it in my own head (oddly appropriate, _weasling _into the Dark camp). I was going slightly crazy, not having spoken to anyone in so long. Still, I left it open-ended in case I changed my mind. No promises, no commitments. That's a Malfoy for you.

The next morning I waited near the place where I knew the ward break was (having listened to the rest of Potter and Ginevra's conversation). I heard footsteps soon enough, and watched through the last layer of trees as Potter slipped out from under his invisibility cloak and apparated, leaving Ginevra alone, I knew, although I couldn't see her. When she got closer to the wards, she slipped the cloak off and crouched down, searching for the small, oddly shaped stone that marked the area where she could break through. It was now or never. Holding my wand in front of me in case she attacked upon sight, I removed the disillusionment charm and quietly said her name.

She was too quick for me. Her wand was pointed at me before I had time to block. I was lucky as hell she didn't aim to kill. "_Petrificus totalus!_"

She rose and looked down at me as I lay motionless under the full body bind on the forest floor.

"_Malfoy?_" she whispered, seemingly astonished. She watched as my eyes, the only thing I could move, darted from side to side. My very uniquely _Silver_ eyes.

Realization dawned on her then. "_You're _Silver?" She obviously wasn't ready to trust me just yet, because she bound my hands and feet with glowing blue ropes before releasing the full body bind. I sat up awkwardly, pushing myself up with my conjoined hands, and looked up at her.

"Yes, I'm Silver," my voice cracked from not having been used in so long.

She decided to test me. "What was the first thing you gave me?"

"Your mother's dagger, with the Prewett crest. But that was already yours, I was just returning it. The first thing I _gave_ you was Dreamless Sleep potion."

"How did you suggest I test it for poison?"

"Spells, or trying it out on a house elf." She seemed to give in then.

"How could I not have figured out it was you? Only a Malfoy would say something like that. Merlin, you're _Draco Malfoy_. You're supposed to be teasing me about my family. Or the fact that I haven't got one anymore. What the hell happened to the order of the universe?"

"That, Ginevra, is a story for another day."

"Call me Ginny, everyone does," she said unconsciously. Then she realized again who she was speaking to and shook her head as if this was all a hallucination and by doing so she could make it go away.

"No way. Ginevra isn't bad, but Ginny is a travesty of a name."

"You're still the same Malfoy." She said, finally releasing my limbs from their magical confines.

"On the contrary, _Ginevra_. I'm going to help you. Put that silly cloak away, we need freedom of movement." I cast my overused disillusionment charms on both of us, modifying them so that we could see each other. Then I cast a charm on the wards, and a small section became visible as a transluscent red film. We could see exactly where the break was, near the ground at the base of a tree that stood half in and half out of the wards.

"You're going to have to squeeze through there. I _conveniently_ have the dark mark-" I pulled up my sleeve to show her the repulsive symbol, and she flinched slightly "-so I'll be able to walk through. I know how to break the wards, but they'll know he second we do it so we're not going to until we're on our way out.

"The setup of the camp includes a large building for headquarters, probably where the aurors are being held. That's surrounded by tents, and the tents are surrounded by forest on this side and hills on the other. We'll be pretty safe until we break through the forest, but after that we'll really need to be careful. Alright, shall we?" Ginevra nodded, and I walked through the barrier and spoke to her from the other side.

"They'll know you're here if you make contact with the wards. Press your back to the tree as you're going through, then you'll be less likely to touch the sides." She started to squirm, snakelike, through the small hole.

"This is like a James Bond movie!" she said, looking up at the glowing red wards.

"What's that?" I inquired.

"Muggle thing, sorry."

When we were through the wards we had a reasonably long walk in the forest before reaching the camp. For a while, neither of us spoke. It was painfully awkward.

"So why have _you_, of all people, been protecting me? Why aren't you over there guarding the prisoners I'm going in to save?" She finally said.

"I told you already- this is still not a good time. Later. As for the second question, well, I'm trying to be practical about it all. If it weren't for muggleborns, wizards would just inbreed until we're all genetically defective. Besides, the Dark Lord is a total hypocrite."

"Never thought I'd hear Draco Malfoy say that."

"Never thought so myself, actually." _And never thought I'd be going to save some aurors with the help of a Weasley._

Our conversation went on in this manner rather easily, or at least more easily than I would've expected, until we reached the end of the forest and looked out on the Deatheater camp. Thank God a small white rabbit bounced out of the trees just then and made it's way towards the camp, because I had just enough time to throw out an arm and stop Ginevra from going any further when I saw it hit an invisible wall and turn back in the other direction.

She hadn't noticed. "What is it?"

"New wards- a second layer, I mean. Wasn't around last time I dropped by. Must've thought to tighten security." I paused a minute to think.

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're not going to be lucky enough to find a break in these ones. We've got no choice but to let them know we're here, unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Unless I go in alone. Dark mark, remember?"

"No way, I'm the one who's supposed to be doing this."

"If you ate a bit more you wouldn't be," I shot back. "You know what, I'm not going to sit here and argue with you. Instead, I'm just going to slip past these wards" I walked across "and remind you that if you try to get in it will do more harm then good. Wish me luck." She stared, trapped on the other side of the wards, as I drew my wand, turned on a heel in a very Lucius-like manner, and began walking into the camp.

**A/N: I was going to end this after the mission, but it was getting really long and I knew I wouldn't have it done for ages if I kept going. **

**Review Replies:**

**WishfulWhispers- **_**Thank you for using some of that free time to R&R! (-:  
**_**Purplepanties- **_**Well, I assume you have your answer now.  
**_**Purplegabby123- **_**Looks like our Ginevra will be safely on the sidelines… right?  
**_**Lemonizer- **_**Yeah, I liked the poetic quality of Draco's reply. This was a nice cliffie just for you. Don't worry, I'll update soon enough…**_


	5. Operation Draco Malfoy

**A/N: I know: long time, no update. Well, compared to my usual 2-day updates, that is. I'm drowning in end-of-term papers and exams and projects and presentations and… well, you get the idea. Somehow, I did manage to fit this in. That translates to "somehow I used writing this to procrastinate." But anyway, Draco has a mission. Let's see how it goes.**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Five

Operation Draco Malfoy

I walked silently through the camp, and although I'd never admit it my heart was beating a mile a minute. When I reached the forbidding black building in the middle, I paused to choose the best course of action. Circling the area around the structure, I decided that going in through one of the basement windows closer to the ground would be easier than trying to sneak past the guards at the various entrances.

There weren't many wards around the place- I suppose they thought the two dark mark walls around the camp were pretty foolproof. As long as the living were accounted for, I guess they were. I wasn't accounted for, but then who would expect Lucius Malfoy's son to turn? Oh, the irony.

A few charms and a significant amount of prying with my lovely family dagger, and I had one of the windows open. Dropping lightly onto the ground underneath, I placed an imperious curse on the only guard nearby before he could even look in the direction of the sounds I must have made in the process of opening the window. Upon my silently voiced orders he leaned casually against the wall, seemingly alone should anyone look down the hallway. He took the vial of veritaserum I pressed into his hand and inconspicuously brought it to his lips, placing a single drop on his own tongue. I lifted the imperius as his eyes glazed over.

"Where are the captives being held and how do you get in?" I whispered.

"Down one level. Hidden staircase at the end of the hall, say _mardevoile_," he replied tonelessly.

"Thanks. Now if you'll just come with me… I trust you won't object…" I replaced the imperius as the minimal dose of veritaserum wore off.

The guard walked down the hall at my command, tapping the wall at the end with his wand and saying the words as I stood, invisible, behind him. The wall dissolved and I followed him down the narrow staircase to a sort of antechamber to the prison that was my destination. I stupefied one of the guards that stood in front of the door; my useful Deatheater-robot took care of the other. Reviving one of them, I painstakingly repeated the veritaserum process and discovered how to open the room.

This was all carried out as a sort of out of body experience. I knew exactly what I was doing, I could see laid out in front of me how everything would occur, and my body went through the motions like clockwork, unthinkingly. I slipped inside with my imperiused Deatheater. I woke the other two guards, oblivated them, and imperiused them for good measure. They stood outside the door when I closed it, oblivious to any change in circumstances from three minutes prior. Once inside, I revealed myself.

There was a moment of stunned silence from the captives. Then,

"You're Lucius Malfoy's son!" the man I recognized as Sirius Black exclaimed.

"Yes, he is," Lupin, my former Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, confirmed.

"I heard you're a bastard just like your disgusting father," Black spat. I raised my wand, reminding them that I was armed and they were not.

"Don't _ever_ compare me to my father." I hissed as I glared at those present. No one said a word, but I thought I saw Lupin's mouth twitch upward. "And, as much as I hate to admit it, I suppose I'm on your side. Or rather, Ginevra Weasley's side. The point is that I'm here to get you all out." More silence. I began to explain.

We wouldn't have much of a problem getting through the wards around the building, but as soon as the captives left the Deatheaters would know. My plan wasn't great (yeah, I didn't really have much of one), but none of the "brilliant" aurors had any better ideas, so…

I led the group out of the room once everyone had disillusioned themselves. I lifted the imperius from all three guards, performed a final memory charm (I think I might've overdone it on one of them, but who cares), and then knocked them out. Now that the Deatheaters were going to be on our tail at any minute, I didn't need to bother making the guards look like nothing had happened. We put silencing charms on our shoes, and then we went to my already-broken window. I broke the wards, we scrambled out as fast as possible, and then we ran.

The silencing worked pretty well- most of the Deatheaters around us couldn't hear us. But they got the basic idea of where we were, and people started throwing curses. In minutes, a new team of on-duty guards arrived. We tried to keep an advanced shield charm up around all of us, but we were forced to spread out as we ran and it broke. It was a mess- everyone was throwing hexes behind them while trying to keep up personal shields and avoid hitting their own side.

We were almost at the wards. I could see Ginevra, wide-eyed, waiting impatiently just behind them. I grabbed her by the upper arm after I broke that set and we kept running, this time through the forest. The Deatheaters still followed, but it was harder for them to aim through the trees. After what seemed like hours of painful sprinting, we were reaching the second set of wards.

"APPARATE AS SOON AS WE'RE PAST THE WARDS!" I yelled. As we neared them, I broke them. Our group ran even faster, and I could see people disapparating in front of me. I turned to Ginevra, about to grab her arm to take her with me, but I saw a familiar face just a few meters behind her. Blaise Zabini, my old schoolmate, raised his wand and yelled a curse that I have had personal experience with- "SECTUMSEMPERA!"

I lunged towards her. I wasn't sacrificing myself like her stupid older brother, don't be silly. It wasn't a killing curse, but it would be if it hit her where he was aiming. I thought I could push her out of the way, make it through unscathed. At the very least, I knew I could position myself to take the curse in a less grave area of my body. The latter is what happened. I felt the piercing pain and the soak of blood on my upper back, around my shoulderblade, and then the curse threw me off balance. I fell backwards and I was only briefly aware of the back of my head connecting with the tree before everything went black.

**A/N: Now that right there, Lemonizer, was the cliffie to end all cliffies. If anyone's wondering, _mardevoile _is a hybrid of the french words for "stairs" and "reveal." I love making up spells :-) And now I think I deserve some lovely reviews. Pretty please with acid pops on top?**

**NOTE: I'm not entirely sure where this is going next- VOTE ON MY PROFILE**

**Review Replies:**

**Purplegabby123- **_**Soon enough, you'll see…**_

**Lemonizer- **_**All comes with the aristocratic upbringing, I suppose (-:**_

**Farie Insignias- **_**Well actually, she was pretty damn stuck with those wards in place. No useful dark mark on her. I'm sure she was quite indignant about the whole thing, but she knew very well that her trying to get through would only decrease Draco's chances of making it out alive.**_


	6. Waking Up

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait, absurd amounts of tests and papers and such. But here it is and it may be the only one for a week or so, so enjoy it. It has more D/G interaction this time.**

**I got a whopping three votes on my poll, but at least it was an odd number. Sorry for whoever voted that they should be captured.**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Six

Waking Up

My eyelids fluttered just enough to see a haze of bright crimson floating above my head. They closed again.

"Draco? Draco!"

The voice was familiar. My foggy brain connected it to the crimson cloud. Suddenly, I remembered who it belonged to and what had happened, and my eyes flew open once and for all.

"You're awake!" Ginevra called out ecstatically. I propped myself up on an elbow, shaking my head a bit to clear it until I realized that doing so was painful. To my surprise, the woman who rushed into the room was Poppy Pomfrey. I let out a breath. So we had made it back.

I hadn't seen Madame Pomfrey since Hogwarts. Well, obviously. She was working as a healer for the Light.

"You've sustained severe blood loss and a serious head injury! _What _do you think you are doing sitting up!?" Pomfrey demanded as she pushed me back down onto the crisp white sheets of the cot I was on. I didn't protest, as I had been beginning to feel slightly dizzy anyway. She bustled out of the tent with a hurried "I'll be right back, don't you move."

"What happened?" I croaked to Ginevra, who I could see was perched on the side of the bed.

"Thank Merlin, you're finally awake," she repeated, her eyes slightly glassy. Suddenly, she knelt over me, wrapping her fragile arms around me in as close as she could get to a hug under the circumstances. Her short hair tickled my shoulder, and I felt something wet on my neck. I was unsure of what to do, so I patted her awkwardly on the back with one of my hands. She pulled away and turned her face towards the floor, but that didn't stop me from seeing her quickly wipe away her tears.

"You look terrible," I said sympathetically when she turned to face me once more. It was true- the bags under her eyes had gotten more pronounced, and she appeared, if possible, even thinner.

She snorted. "Thanks a lot. You should talk- you're the one who's been in a coma for two weeks."

"Two weeks!?" Suddenly I realized why she looked so fatigued. She had been there the whole time, waiting for me to wake up. I was saved from having to say anything more just then as Pomfrey reappeared with a foul-tasting potion to force down my throat.

"It's for the pain, Hun. You'll need it now you're awake." I fought my gagging reflex and held back my instinctive complaint, instead mumbling "Thank you, Madame Pomfrey." She had always hated me back at school (understandably I'll admit, after the hippogriff incident), so where did the "Hun" come from?

As if she had heard my thoughts, she replied, "Poppy, dear. We're not at Hogwarts anymore. You've certainly grown up- I remember you were a bit of a pain back then, if you don't mind me saying, but I heard what you did for those prisoners." I nodded slightly, staring.

This cleared up, I remembered how I had gotten into this position. I turned back to Ginevra.

"Did everyone make it out?" I asked. She smiled slightly.

"Yes, thanks to you. A few injuries, but yours was the worst of it." Poppy added a few pillows so that I could sit without having to hold myself up before assuring us that she would be just a holler away and leaving me alone with Ginevra. There was a slightly awkward pause before she broke the silence.

"Now that we aren't in a life-threatening situation, will you please tell me why you've been protecting me? I think you owe me that much."

I could have pointed out that I had saved her life multiple times and I didn't owe her squat, but I was going to have to tell her _sometime_ after all.

"Fine," I began, "but you can't tell a soul. _Especially _your mother." She raised an eyebrow but nodded, and I told the whole story slowly and methodically. Her expression quickly passed from interest into disbelief.

"But your father is the one who gave me Tom Riddle's diary!"

"I expect he hadn't the slightest idea what that book could do. Besides, back then your mum had six other children. Don't get the idea that Lucius ever cared for _you_ in the slightest."

"Do _you_ care for me?" she asked bluntly.

"Yes, I believe I do now," I answered honestly. There was another pause.

"Why do you call him Lucius?"

"He was never much of a father to me, so I don't see why I should refer to him as such."

"But then why did you listen? I know the whole 'Malfoy obligation' thing is bullshit. Your father wouldn't have wanted you rescuing Order members no matter how much he loved my mother." She got me on that one. Why had I gone in there anyway? I could have just turned around with Ginevra and had her tell them that she couldn't get through the second layer of wards. That would've saved me blood loss and a head injury, apparently.

"I don't know… honestly, I never paid much attention to you in school but your bat-bogey hex _is_ pretty wicked, and I suppose I wanted out of the Deatheater life. It was a good excuse."

"You seemed pretty excited about Deatheater life a few years ago."

"Yeah, well, I was naïve. I hadn't realized how hypocritical the Dark Lord really is… I mean, he's a fucking half-blood himself… and I guess I thought killing innocent people was more glorious than it actually is. And killing isn't the half of it- you don't want to hear about what else they do in there." She shuddered visibly. At that moment, however, we were interrupted by Poppy walking in with two steaming bowls of something mushy on a tray.

"Ginny, I assume you'll take your lunch here?" Ginevra nodded almost imperceptibly. The older woman was already setting the tray on the bedside table anyway. I raised my bowl, grimacing distastefully at the oatmeal-like substance within.

"Why aren't you eating?" I demanded, noticing once Poppy had left that Ginevra hadn't touched hers.

"I'm not really hungry."

"Don't even think about not eating that," I said, "You're practically a skeleton. Here- I can make it a bit better…" I picked up my wand, also on the rickety-looking table, and flicked it over her bowl and then my own. "Jalapeño grits," I elaborated. "I can't really change the texture much, so it's best to stick to something with a similar one."

I tried it first. It really wasn't half bad, if I may say so myself. Glad Poppy didn't see, though- I probably shouldn'tve been having spicy food after two weeks on IV. Ginevra took a few small spoonfuls before setting her bowl down. I decided not to argue- for now.

**A/N: Yes, Ginny is purposefully not eating. I think that's pretty obvious. NO, this is not EVER going to be one of those **_**Draco-needs-to-make-anorexic-Ginny-feel-good-about-her-body**_** fics. Don't worry. Now REVIEW! I need **_**motivation**_**. Pretty please with licorice wands on top?**

**Review Replies:  
****Purplegabby123- **_**Yeah, I know. Still working on it (-:  
**_**Youngwriter56- **_**Thank you, hope you liked this chapter just as much!  
**_**Lemonizer- **_**Sorry to leave you in suspense for so long! At least this chapter ends rather uneventfully. I was going to write up until the next real plot point, but I decided this chapter's good the way it is.  
**_**1x1pEngUIn89- **_**Thanks!**_


	7. You Have Me

**A/N: ****Just so you guys know, I'm sort improvising on this one. It doesn't have quite as clear a plan as my other fics. I have a vague idea of where the next few chapters are going, but if anyone has suggestions, feel free (-:**

**This is only a short little tidbit, but it needs to stand on its own. **

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Seven

You Have Me

"Ginevra, I'm going to hex you if you don't eat those. They're _raspberries_, for heavens' sake."

"Why don't you have them then? What I eat is my business."

"I'm serious. You're getting thinner every day. You aren't healthy."

"You're still recovering. You wouldn't be able to hex me before I block you anyway."

"Don't flatter yourself." I raised my wand, pointing it at her.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Maybe you're right." I angled the wand just slightly downwards towards the bowl in her hands. The raspberries within suddenly became raspberry ice cream. "Eat that, then." I said. Who doesn't like ice cream?

"Draco, it's not your place to tell me what I should eat or what I should look like."

"Then whose place is it? Who else is here to tell you!?" She threw the bowl of ice cream down at the ground, where it mingled with the dark earth in long, running drips of pink. Then she turned on a heel and stormed off. I let her go. I knew where I would find her later.

It's been a few days since I woke up. I've been recovering slowly, and walks outside with Ginevra are pretty much the extent to which my physical exertion goes.

She doesn't eat very much at all, and it really worries me, but every time I mention it she closes off. Is she actually trying to starve herself to death?

I gave her a few minutes alone before beginning my walk towards the cemetery. As I neared it, I could see her sticklike form silhouetted exactly where I knew it would be. When I got closer to her family's graves I saw her body shaking slightly, her fist pressed to her mouth to control her sobs. On impulse, I pulled her into my arms. She sank weakly to the ground, and I followed.

"I'm sorry. That was a horrible thing to say," I whispered. She just sobbed harder. She clawed at my chest, twisting and pressing herself as close as possible to me. She felt like a child wrapped in my arms, bony and small.

"It's not horrible. It's true," she choked out, "I don't have anyone. My mother never even talks to me anymore. She just works, does everything she can to help, and spends the rest of her time sitting in silence. Harry and Hermione ignore me. Everyone else is gone. Gone…"

"You have me," I said quietly. "You have me." She just buried her face against my chest, soaking my shirt with her tears. I understood now. She no longer had a reason to eat because she no longer had a reason to live. I understood because I had once felt the same way. But now I had a reason to live- her. I lived to protect her, from herself as much as from the outside world.

**Review pretty please with Cockroach Clusters… err, peanut brittle… on top? **

**Replies:  
****1x1pEngUIn89- **_**Thanks!  
**_**Lemonizer- **_**Yeah, I think I'm actually going to try keeping the major characters alive this time around. Especially considering that I had already killed off five people before this fic started and another in the first chapter (-:**_


	8. Forgiven

**A/N: You know, there was a time that seems far in the past now when I thought this fic would have eight chapters. True story. Point is, we've still got a bit to go. And I better finish it before I go to Paris for the summer. Wouldn't want to leave you guys hanging, now would I? **

**Harry comes off pretty evil-ish in this chapter. I personally like Harry and usually he's Ginny's best friend in my fics, but no such luck for him in this one.**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Eight

Forgiven

I sat up in bed when I saw him walk through the tent flap, Ginevra at his heels. She went to my side immediately, curling her fragile fingers around my shoulder.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

"What do you want?"

"What do _I_ want? You're a fucking Deatheater. You think you're going to get away with this? You're not. We're trying you in two days, Malfoy," He said.

"Potter, hate to break it to you, but I'm not a Deatheater. I rescued your best fighters and strategists from certain death. You would have no chance in this war without me."

"You're a Deatheater! You killed people!" Merlin, can't he come up with anything better?

"I never killed anyone."

He scoffed. "You expect me to believe that?"

"No, actually, I don't expect that that will ever make it through your thick skull." Ah, this brings back fond memories. Potter turned on his heel and walked out. I turned to Ginevra. Silent tears were running down her face.

"I can't lose you," she said very quietly. I was speechless. I had no idea the girl had become so attached to me.

"I'm not going anywhere, Ginevra." She lifted her head, taking a more determined stance instead of her depressed one. It suited her better.

"You're right. I'm not letting you go anywhere."

--

"We do not have the means for a full, formal hearing, but we will make do with what we can," the balding wizard, one of the few remaining members of the Wizengamot, began.

"The charges against the accused are as follows: That Draco Malfoy, resident of Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire, willingly took the Dark Mark and participated in acts of violence in the company of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and other Deatheaters. He faces a life sentence of imprisonment."

Ginevra walked in, settling herself on the bench beside me. The man nodded reluctantly to her.

"Representing the defense, Ginevra Molly Weasley."

I noticed that Moody, Black, and Lupin had entered behind Ginevra and were standing in a group to my left.

Ginevra spoke. "Witnesses for the defense, Alastor Moody, auror, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin."

"Permission to speak?" Black asked. The balding man nodded once again.

"I am probably severely damaging my relationship with my godson by defending this man," he looked towards Potter, who was sitting on the sidelines and, indeed, glaring at him, "but I have no choice in the matter.

"I am Draco Malfoy's first cousin once removed, but a mere month ago my impression of him was that he was the very devil himself. This was changed recently, mostly because I know owe my life to him."

The hearing went on in this manner- I will not bore you with the retelling of the story you already know (all though I do assure you that the speeches were quite eloquent). I was astonished by the support Ginevra managed to invoke- for I certainly could not have gotten these people to defend me myself even if I did save their lives. No one mentioned my clear statement from that day that I'm on Ginevra Weasley's side, not really theirs.

Needless to say, they let me off. I don't think I've ever seen Potter look so incensed.

Now I was officially (well, as official as it really gets) on the Light side. There was no getting out of it.

I went up to my dear cousin after the trial.

"Hey, Black!"

"Yeah? And call me Sirius," he grinned. I shook his hand.

"Well, thanks."

"Least I could do. Friends?"

"Yeah. Friends," I smirked a little as I said this. Harry Potter's godfather.

I wondered what it would be like to have friends, as opposed to _cronies_. I supposed Ginevra is my friend, isn't she?

Speaking of Ginevra, I somehow ended up in a spare room of the tent she shared with her mum. She insisted that I shouldn't be alone now that I was out of the medic's tent.

"Draco?" I heard her whisper through the cloth separating her bed and mine, late that night.

"Yeah? Oh, I never really got to thank you, you know, for the defense."

She chuckled softly so as not to wake her mother. "No problem. It was kind of fun."

"Fun? This is my _life_ we're bargaining for here!"

"Oh, come on, I knew we would win. Harry's the only one with enough of a vendetta against you to overlook the fact that you saved all of the most important people on our side."

"What's up with you and Potter anyway? I thought you were dating in my sixth year."

"We were. That sort of fell apart after Ron… well, I think Harry's with Hermione now."

"The mudblood? Really?"

"Please don't use that word. Yes, but they're probably keeping it under wraps. He's majorly paranoid about Voldemort killing his girlfriends."

"The git doesn't deserve you anyway." She laughed again.

"And who does, Malfoy?"

"I thought I was Draco now, _Ginevra_."

"Sorry, Draco. Force of habit I suppose. Look at us, a Weasley and a Malfoy."

"The past is the past. The present is most certainly different. And the future- that's something else entirely."

"Indeed. Something else."

**A/N: Okay, how'd I do with the hearing? I went back and looked at the fifth book before I wrote it. I suppose I could've made it more formal, but that would have involved bringing in more characters by name, making up some names of laws, etc., and I figure that during the war it would be slightly more chaotic. Tell me what you think! (Pretty please with Jelly Slugs on top?)**

**Review Replies:  
****1x1pEngUIn89- **_**Well you did review, so I suppose I have to give you some cockroach cluster anyway. Maybe you have an enemy you can offer some to?  
**_**Lemonizer-**_** Yeah, There was enough angst in my last two stories :-) (and earlier chapters of this one, lol)  
**_**Purplegabby123- **_**Thank you! That's why I thought it should be its own chapter.  
**_**Sunset Ruby- **_**Thanks! Hope you liked the new installment!**_


	9. Find a Place to Belong

**A/N: This is a short one, again, but it's necessary. And it means a quick update (-:**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Nine

Find a Place to Belong

War is boring. There's nothing to do when your "superiors" are strategizing; when all you are to them is another able body at their disposal. Well, I was more to them than that, but I didn't know till later.

Ginevra and I spent most of this time together. Sometimes Sirius would join us. Remus and I had some civilized conversations as well, but he never really trusted me. There was too much bad blood between us from when I was his student, I guess.

"You _like_ her." I turned away from the tent that Ginevra had just gone inside to get warmer robes to the shaggy black dog that had just transformed into a man at my side.

"It still creeps me out when you do that," I said, "and Ginevra and I are just close friends."

"Sure, whatever."

Maybe he had a point. I was starting to think of Ginevra as more than a friend. I felt so possessive of her, and I thought she brought out the best in me.

"Do I deserve you?" I asked her, completely out of the blue, as we sat outside the tent and watched the stars. She looked confused for a moment before she remembered our earlier conversation. She smiled.

"Yeah, perhaps you do." I lifted a hand to her pale cheek. Our skin was nearly the same shade. I never noticed that. My thumb brushed her cheekbone.

"Eyelash," I said. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. Where did they come from? I was never nervous around girls. Out of practice, I suppose. Well, we can fix that.

I finally kissed her, softly, my lips just ghosting over hers. She leaned in and kissed back, winding her fingers in my hair. I rested an arm gently around her slim waist when we pulled apart.

"It doesn't matter who our families were…" I began.

"Because we're all alone now," she finished. I drew her into my arms and held her close against my chest, and for a long time we simply looked up at the night sky and listened to each other's breathing.

--

We didn't tell anyone about our relationship. Well, I told Sirius for obvious reasons, but he was asked to keep it to himself. We felt it was best to keep it quiet, not shock anyone with the news (because we knew it would be a shock).

We had a few blissful weeks together before Molly Weasley died.

She died in her sleep. Ginevra woke one morning to find her, peacefully silent and no longer breathing on her cot in the tent. No one was sure why- it seems, perhaps, that she died of grief. She was young, for a witch.

Losing almost her entire family, living in this world of destruction and death, it isn't really very surprising. I don't know how any of us kept living.

That night, Ginevra asked me to sleep in her bed with her. I held her like I had that night in the graveyard, and she cried for almost an hour straight in the dark.

Now we really only had each other. I had been alone from the time I left the Deatheater camp, but she had grown up with a supportive family and many friends. I had never really been loved or had anyone to love, even when I was with my parents. All I had was Ginevra, and now that the last of her family was gone, all Ginevra had was me. I vowed that night that I would stick by her, no matter what.

We slept in the same bed from then on. We never had sex- we were taking it slow. We slept together for comfort- to know that there was someone else there. So that I would be there when Ginevra woke up from a nightmare, so we could reassure each other that someone cared.

But this was war. War isn't curling up with someone in a dark room and feeling safe. War doesn't take into account that you should be given time to mourn.

War is a hideous bitch-goddess.

And so the delicate form of peace we had developed was shattered all too soon, by a few words from Sirius to me about two weeks after Mrs.Weasley's death.

"Harry hates to have to ask for your help, so he sent me. We have a job only you can do."

**A/N: I know, their relationship was really rushed. But that's just the way it worked out. Besides, the whole story has turned into more of an action fic than a tender romance, and at this point plot takes precedence. Review pretty please with a canary cream on top! I only got one review for the last chapter )-:**

**Snowfire81- **_**Whoops, sorry, this is certainly a worse cliffy than the last chapter. Glad you're enjoying it!**_


	10. Espionage

**A/N: It's been a while (by my standards, anyway), but here is the tenth chapter of **_**Saving Ginevra Weasley**_**. Things are kind of crazy now (don't you just love the time of year when your math teachers start giving you huge final-review packets every night in addition to regular homework?) but my last final is June 23 so I'll be updating a lot between then and July 4****th****, when I leave for Paris. That is, if I don't manage to finish this before then. It's drawing to a close now (-:**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Ten

Espionage

Why did I agree to this again? Oh yeah, because without me Voldemort would win the war and my girlfriend slash protect-ee would be tortured and killed. Now I know how the Boy-Who-Never-Dies feels. Doesn't make me loathe him any less, of course.

I walked into the Deatheaters' camp alone and very visible this time. I wore my Deatheater robes, artfully torn, and had blood smeared about my face and limbs.

I always had been a good actor, and I played my part well. I told a story about being captured by the Light and escaping after they had given up on getting any information out of me. I faked a disdain for the power of their guards and wards- _It was only too easy to get away_- and went back to my old sneer. When Voldemort checked the validity of my story by Legilimency, he only saw carefully formulated visions of my imaginary capture and escape. My father had taught me Occlumency at a young age (now I know what it was that he was hiding) and it was relatively simple for me to learn to create false memories in addition to keeping the real ones hidden.

I would have been in trouble if they had thought to use veritaserum, but the followers of the Dark Lord never have been that clever. My story proven (or so they thought), I was welcomed back to a high place in Deatheater society. I was a Malfoy; this is where I belonged.

Every few days, Sirius or Ginevra would meet me outside the second set of wards in case I had any useful information. I had ways of contacting the Order in case of an emergency, but it was risky. I was better off speaking to them in person as quickly and covertly as possible.

That was my mistake- not being quick or covert enough. I barely got to speak to Ginevra, so I began stealing conversations and time with her when we were supposed to exchange our information as fast as possible and get back to our separate camps. I should have expected that it would get me into trouble.

It was hard for her, I could tell. Sirius talked to me about her and I knew that he was making an effort to be there for her and help her out, but she really was alone otherwise. She had terrible nightmares, I know from my many nights spent with her, and now she was all alone in a huge tent that had once held her entire family.

I rose in the Deatheater ranks. It was expected that I would take the place of my father, and he had been Voldemort's right-hand man.

There were a few small snags. It was hard _not_ to look suspicious when I went off to meet people from the Light. Although I tried to set up meetings at inconspicuous times, I never really knew when there would be people around that I had to shrug off to make it. Once, I was sent on a three-person mission that would have been very detrimental to the Light if it was pulled off. It was relatively easy for me to set something up; I immediately handed over the two Deatheaters, got fixed up with a bit more fake blood, and gave Ginevra a quick kiss before heading back to my personal battlefield looking like the lucky little escapee I was known to be. Still, I'm sure the whole incident must have raised some suspicions about me.

It was finally Blaise Zabini, once again, who complicated everything. Well, complicated is an understatement.

It was around twilight one of these nights, when I slipped out of my tent and began the rather long trek through the woods to meet Ginevra. I had important news.

I smiled widely when I finally saw her. It had been weeks- perhaps more than a month, I've lost track of time- since the last time she was sent to meet me.

"They're planning a serious storm of the Light camp, the Dark Lord included. It will be the final battle, I'm sure of it. In however many days, Ginevra, this war will be—" I was cut off as she stepped into my arms and I wrapped them around her, hugging her tightly to me. She was so tiny and delicate within my embrace, her frail arms around my upper back as she laid her head on my chest.

"You've lost weight. I thought we were past this problem."

"I'm worried about you."

"You should worry more about yourself." I gave her a light kiss on the mouth, the feathery ends of her short hair brushing my hand on her neck. It was then, of course, that we heard the telltale snap of a twig and swish of a cloak behind us.

"Aww, how sweet. Never would have expected it of you, _Prince of Slytherin_. Petrificus totalus!" I twisted around to meet Zabini's eyes just as the binding curse hit its mark. He stunned Ginevra just as I fell to ground, rigid as a board, and he took care _to_ crash our limp bodies into various trees as he levitated them behind him towards the middle of the camp.

**A/N: Ah, cliffies are a necessary part of any good story. Besides, they escaped last time so you know they just had to be captured this time. And I already promised Lemonizer that I won't kill them off, so the question(s) are: Will they make it out themselves? If not, who will break them out? I want guesses people! Let's see who can get this one. Chocolate Frogs on top?**

**Snowfire81-_ I love your, erm... _enthusiastic_ reviews. Sorry for the wait.  
_Lemonizer- _Yeah, that's what I was thinking. Like how Bill and Fleur got married so quickly in the actual books.  
_Emmaline- _Thanks! I'm glad you like it! I'm sorry about the short chapters, but they just work better for me. I've tried to make them longer with other stories but they just don't come out that way._**

**_And special thanks to_ Ellie (Caliadne)_!!_**


	11. Caught

**A/N: Wow, a whole week without updating. **_**I'm**_** suffering withdrawal. Anyway, I foresee only one chapter after this. **

**No one bothered to try and guess how our lovers would get out of this one. I'm disappointed. But here's a nice long (alright, long-er) chappie for you guys anyways. **

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Eleven

Caught

"Wha-where are we?" Ginevra asked quietly as she came to.

"Where does it look like we are?" I responded sardonically.

I glanced once more around the room as she took it in for the first time. We had been taken to the dungeons under the headquarters at the center of the camp. It reminded me very much of the dungeons at Malfoy Manor- a rather large complex of rooms connected by tunnels; water seeping in through cracks in the stone... When you build it by magic that hastily, there are always some drawbacks. But perhaps it's supposed to add to the atmosphere.

I had caught sight of various torture mechanisms as we were forced (well, I was forced. Ginevra was unconscious) down to this small barred room, and had had a closer look at a few more recently.

Looking back towards me, she gasped, her eyes wide. "What happened to you!?" she exclaimed. I fought the instinctual sarcasm that once again rose in my throat.

"Tried to torture me for information," I replied simply, "and they'll be back for more, I'm sure." I hadn't seen her looking so fearful and alone since the day her mother died. She rose from her curled up position on the floor, though, and walked across the small cell to where I lay slumped against the wall, unmoving. I tried to look up, but I couldn't tilt my head far enough without shifting my back against the wall and, well, I didn't want to do that. She knelt in front of me, placing a hand tentatively on my bare shoulder, and she didn't miss the sharp intake of breath when she did so.

"Let me see your back," she demanded. I saw some of my old Ginevra now- the determined fighter and healer. I winced as she gently eased my back off the wall, peering at it in the semi-darkness.

I knew what she would see. I could feel every single lash- could draw a diagram of their placement on the expanse of white skin. And I knew what wounds exacted by that particular weapon looked like: deep, bloody gashes like those of any whip, surrounded by the stinging, aching burns inflicted by the magic.

I knew what to expect, but Ginevra didn't. I heard her choke slightly as her hand reached out to hover over my shoulder blade, not touching for fear of causing me more pain (and for that I am grateful).

I couldn't crane my neck to look behind me because it would stretch the muscles in my back, but I heard Ginevra tear the hem of her long outer robes into thin strips. She slowly began to wind them from my back and around my abdomen and chest, working her way up from my waist. I closed my eyes and held my breath as I felt the coarse fabric chafing against the fresh wounds. It was for the best, I knew. She needed to stop the bleeding.

When she was finished, she spread my long-discarded robes over the ground and slowly eased me into lying down on them. She lay down beside me. Not wanting to even attempt full range of motion, I moved the hand closest to her body at a slightly awkward angle to caress her temple and feel the wispy strands of her hair against my knuckles, and we just stayed there in silence.

-

When I woke up, it was to the unpleasant sounds of shoes squeaking on the stone floor. I felt Ginevra wrenched from my side and pulled out of the cell before I could even fully wake, and as I tried to get up the shooting pain in my back forced me back unto our makeshift bed. The barred door screeched loudly and clanged shut, and the Deatheater outside it gave me a sick, maniacal sort of grin as he locked it with a wave of his wand.

Hearing Ginevra's screams echoing down the stone corridor,_ knowing_ that there was nothing I could do, was the hardest thing… It was then that I realized I loved her. I didn't just care about her, or like her- I loved her. I felt hot tears well up at this realization as I held my hands over my ears in an ill-fated attempt to avoid hearing her shrieks of pain. Then, all of a sudden, they stopped.

For a brief second my body flooded with relief, but the feeling disappeared as abruptly as it came. That had been way too short. There's no way they would have given up that easily on someone who had been living with Order members for the entire war, someone whose older brother had been Harry-bleeding-Potter's best mate.

This left two options. Either she had told them something important (although I honestly could not think of anything they didn't know about the Light now that my cover was blown), or she was… or she was so seriously injured that she couldn't scream anymore. Merlin, I hoped it was the first.

Now, the third option was not one I had anticipated. I had not at all expected my old potions master to show up outside the bars of our cell, his expression one of resigned distaste and my girlfriend, unconscious, in his arms.

"It's time I really chose a side in this war. And I promised your father I'd protect you," he explained curtly. I couldn't help but smile. Lucius had a thing for that, I suppose.

Laying Ginevra down on the floor beside me, he handed me my wand and cast a few spells with his own pointed towards me. Instantly the pain in my back disappeared, and I sat up and knelt over Ginevra.

"That'll only numb the pain and keep the wounds from getting any worse," Snape said, "you'll still need a real mediwitch when we make it to the camp. Now move it, we don't have much time and I need to get to the girl."

He healed the deeper cuts on her body, but I knew that they had probably used the cruciatus because there wasn't much outside damage.

"Ennervate" her eyes fluttered open slowly. I rushed to her side.

"Are you alright?!"

"I think so," she said in a weak voice. She shook slightly, an aftereffect of the curse. I gathered her gently into my arms.

"This may seem kind of out of the blue," I said, "but… I love you, Ginevra." I smirked slightly- the sort of smirk you have when you're nervous.

She smirked back. "I love you too, Malfoy." I smiled as I buried my hand in the feathery tresses at the nape of her neck, pulling her toward me for a long kiss.

Well, it would have been long if Snape hadn't cleared his throat to interrupt. We both bit our lips to stop ourselves from laughing when we broke apart and turned towards him. I don't think our dear potions master had _ever_ looked so awkward in his life. And that's saying something.

"As… _sweet_" he looked as though the word tasted bitter on his tongue "as that little display was… this is really not the time." I looked down to hide my grin as I helped Ginevra to her feet, one arm chivalrously around her waist.

-

After using disillusionment charms, modified so that we could see each other, we walked briskly down the hall until we reached the bodies of the Deatheaters who had been torturing Ginevra. I was somewhat appalled to notice that one of them was Zabini, and gave him a nice hard kick.

Snape duplicated one of the bodies before transfiguring it into a perfect likeness of himself. Ginevra looked rather repulsed as he added a few wounds here and there, including a slash across the neck followed by the resultant pool of blood. I couldn't help my expression of approving curiosity, and Ginevra wrinkled her nose.

"Something you would do, I suppose" she said.

"Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin," I replied.

**A/N: And the final battle draws ever nearer… I worked hard on this chapter and I actually really like it, so I expect some good reviews. With chocoballs on top? (Filled with strawberry mousse and clotted cream!)**

**Snowfire81- **_**Well whadya know! He died! I do love Blaise- he can be a really useful character to manipulate, but his bad guy part in this story was just meant to be (-:**_

**Dristi- **_**Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it. By the way, you never did review the new version of the final chapters of "Try to Love Again." What did you think of it? I want your feedback! **_


	12. The Means to an End

**A/N: And here you have it, the final chapter of Saving Ginevra Weasley. I'll miss it.**

Saving Ginevra Weasley: Chapter Twelve

The Means to an End

I fiddled with the golden coin in my hand impatiently, looking down at it in disgust. A Granger innovation. Ginevra stilled my hands with one of her own, pressing a finger to her lips in the universal sign for "stop that irritating and potentially dangerous noise, Malfoy."

Then the bewitched galleon started to glow. Hurriedly turning it on its side, I checked the numbers hidden along the edge. Two-seven. Row two, location seven. The battle had not quite begun, but I felt a lurch in my stomach as I realized that it was actually going to happen, today,_ now_, and Merlin knows what will come of it.

The numbers changed. Three-seven. Three-eight. Four-eight. Now everyone stationed around the camp knew the basic idea of what path the hidden (or so they thought) Deatheaters were taking. We were way up at one-five, so we were going to turn around and attack from behind when the time came.

Snape had been very clever in faking his own death. If the Dark had known that he was on our side, then all would have been lost for us. All might have been lost anyway, but I've said it before and I'll say it again: Deatheaters are really not smart.

You see, the Dark Lord is, after all, clever enough not to continue with the plan I was aware of after it had been discovered that I was a spy all along. Snape, however, never having been a spy, was entrusted with the knowledge of the new plan- the one devised whilst Ginevra and I were locked away in the bowels of the Dark Lord's evil lair.

Someone really clever might've thought "_oh, something here looks fishy… like the two wandless teenage captives managing to break out all on their own, kill four full-grown, armed men, go upstairs a few floors into enemy territory to pick up their wands (the location of which was unknown to them), and then slip out completely unnoticed_".

But hey, that would've totally screwed our little setup so who's complaining?

The camp had been cleared of all non-fighters- all children and elderly had been moved, under cover of darkness the night before, miles away to safe-houses deep in the countryside. All able fighters had been armed with certain emergency weapons in case a Deatheater managed to disarm them. We were grouped around the camp, ready for the attack, our complicated coin-coding perfected. It was time.

Ginevra tapped the coin with her wand. It started glowing green, and I knew that the matching ones held by everyone who was stationed in our region of the forest would be glowing too. Soon people began to materialize around us in pairs, seemingly out of thin air. Ginevra did a quick head count, then sent a message through the coins to tell the groups farther away that all was as planned, and that our group was ready.

We already had silencing charms on our shoes. On Ginevra's command, we began walking towards the empty camp, knowing that Deatheaters lay somewhere between it and us. We turned slightly to the left and continued walking. We raised our wands as we caught sight of a sign on a nearby tree, the color indicating that the enemy was nearby. We paused to listen for telltale twig-snapping noises.

Finally, with the first _Avada Kedavra_ spilling off of Ginevra's lips, the battle began.

-

The sheer stupidity of the Boy-Who-Lived never ceases to amaze me. He's just _defeated_ _Voldemort_, for Merlin's sake, and he's standing there looking like Longbottom back in seventh year when he finally managed to turn his rabbit into a throw pillow.

True, there was a bit of a lull in the fighting while everyone realized what had happened, but you never can trust lulls in the fighting. I shot a quick curse towards the first Deatheater to make an attempt to avenge his leader, than smirked at Potter.

"We're all amazed you were actually capable of that as well, but I just want to let you know that I'm not going to save your ass next time a curse comes your way."

-

I can't believe that it's actually over. After all this time… and I _never_ expected to be where I am now at the end of it all. Here, in a tent with my girlfriend Ginevra Weasley and an award for Special Services to the Order of the Phoenix.

Our plan went off without a hitch. It was perfect. Really, truly perfect.

I look down at Ginevra on my lap, stroking her hair with the hand that isn't being soaked in murtlap essence. Her expression is exhausted and rather pained.

"What's wrong, Ginevra? It's over. It's finally finished. There's nothing to worry about."

She sighs. "I know. It's just… what do I do now? Everything I ever knew vanished months ago, and now so has everything I ever wished I didn't know. What happens now?"

I lean my head back and stare at the pale line of moonlight cast across the ceiling from the slit in the tent flap.

My mother died today. Serves her right.

"I'm in the same place you are. Just because I don't really miss the life I once knew doesn't mean that I'm at any less of a loss as to what I should do now. Except…" I smirk, and she looks up at me questioningly.

"Yes, I have lost everything I once knew… except for a shitload of money. Think of it this way, Ginevra: there's nothing tying us down. We can do whatever the hell we want to do, for as long as we want to do it. Let's go to France. Or Italy. We'll buy a house in Tuscany. Why don't we get married?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. Am I ever not serious? Marry me."

She laughs, all traces of pain gone from her face. "You're being ridiculous," she says.

"No, I'm not. What's wrong? Is it because you want a ring and one knee and a single red rose and all that?" I continue joking, never betraying my real thoughts: that she doesn't love me enough, we're too young, she's not sure, she thinks we should take some time apart because I'm moving too fast…

"No, actually," she finally says, turning around to kiss me softly, "this is a better story to tell the grandkids anyway."

**A/N: So, enjoyed reading as much as I enjoyed writing? Review, as always, please with a massive bar of Honeydukes chocolate on top?**

**I've been missing some of my loyal reviewers lately (Lemonizer and Purplegabby, I'm talking to you!) but I assume that they are on summer vacation and they will review when they get back. **_**Right?**_

**I will be on vacation as well, but I'm back home in August so I may start something new then. I have a plot in my head for a humor story involving a whole lot of different pairings, so if you're interested in that put me on author alert.**

**Snowfire81- **_**Lol :-). Thank you, hope you liked the ending.**_

**Love Always,**

**Azrulai.**


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